[snip]And you would be wrong. Very wrong. In the "One True Church"<G> Mary is not deified, but being the "Mother Of God" she sits close at the right hand of God in heaven and has influence as an "Advocate".
Most Christians have at some point asked someone else to pray for them, whether that someone else be a friend or a neighbor or a pastor. Catholics believe that since Mary (and the various saints) are in heaven, who better to ask to pray for them? In other works, Mary (and the various saints) are prayed to but not worshipped. The second half of the prayer called the Hail Mary might explain this more clearly: "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." Catholics ask Mary to pray for them, the same way they might ask their neighbor to pray for them.
Jon wrote:
> Really? So why do you read it and say prayers from it? What purpose > does the Catholic bible serve and what is its value?
rob wrote:
While protestants have the bible and only the bible, catholics have a much broader and richer heratige of written literature. There is quite a bit of "apochryphia" that influences catholic thinking,
...much like the Jewish faith from which Christianity originally sprang. And of course The Bible (tm) is just a collection of various books and letters, a mini-library if you will, and was originally a much larger library. Many books were tossed out during the council of ... was it Nicea? I don't remember, but it was one of the early councils, (and one which some belive had as much or more political motivation as religious motivation). For example, there were numerous "Revelation" books, but only one was kept, the one that is now the final book of The Bible. Some of those books that were tossed out remained influential to various groups within Catholicism and probably still have some influence today. Also, the writings of later saints are also part of the Catholic "heritage of written literature." The writings of Augustine spring immediately to mind, among others.
Jon wrote:
> A side question. Why is it that Mary is always seen in a glass window or > something? Why not Jesus?
rob replied:
You have never ever been inside a catholic church have you? Visit a catholic church or two and rid yourself of such silly misunderstandings. You really have a lot to learn of the rich culture of the catholic church.
I think Jon was referring to the various "Marian Miracles" or apparitions of Mary, such as at Medjugorge, or someone thinking they've seen an image of Mary on the side of a barn or in a tree or whatever. And from what I've heard, people just as often or more often see images of Jesus in those same kinds of places. But Mary, being just a regular person, not divine, functions as a role-model (along with the other saints).
Jon wrote:
> http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0612virgin-sighting12-ON.html > > According to the article, these people believe they are 'communicating' > their prayers to Mary.
See above re: praying vs. worshipping.
Jon (and anybody else), I hope that helps explain things (not that rob didn't do a fine job, I just wanted to amplify some of his points).
Reggie Bautista
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